MikeDobbs
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 205
Hey everyone- so I just got my first power boat last week and I just completed my baptism by fire (my first full bellows job). I replaced the exhaust, UJ and shift bellows, as well as the shift cable and trim limit/sender switches.
Overall, the job really wasn't that bad. For my money, I'd say the hardest part by far was that gosh darn water hose! Both ends were absolutely brutal, and the clamp of the bell housing was almost more than I could handle.
I made two parts for the job which I wanted to share in case anyone else is tackling this in the future. The first, was my own home-made shift cable removal tool (yes this was an absolute must as far as I could tell). I had the local body shop weld an 11/16 in socket to the end of a craftsman 9/16 deep well 3/8 drive socket and it worked like a charm.
Also, built a simple tool for placing the UJ bellows retaining clip on the bell housing. Basically a piece of 3/4 ply cut to the O.D. of the retaining ring. Then a 2x4 nailed to it for a handle. Worked like a charm (as far as I can tell).
Funny thing is, the exhaust bellows was a total piece of cake! I've read lots of things about how difficult the exhaust bellows is, and I almost went with an exhaust tube to avoid the hassle- but honestly, that was one of the easiest parts of the job. Guess I lucked out. Here's some pics of my home-made tools.
Overall, the job really wasn't that bad. For my money, I'd say the hardest part by far was that gosh darn water hose! Both ends were absolutely brutal, and the clamp of the bell housing was almost more than I could handle.
I made two parts for the job which I wanted to share in case anyone else is tackling this in the future. The first, was my own home-made shift cable removal tool (yes this was an absolute must as far as I could tell). I had the local body shop weld an 11/16 in socket to the end of a craftsman 9/16 deep well 3/8 drive socket and it worked like a charm.
Also, built a simple tool for placing the UJ bellows retaining clip on the bell housing. Basically a piece of 3/4 ply cut to the O.D. of the retaining ring. Then a 2x4 nailed to it for a handle. Worked like a charm (as far as I can tell).
Funny thing is, the exhaust bellows was a total piece of cake! I've read lots of things about how difficult the exhaust bellows is, and I almost went with an exhaust tube to avoid the hassle- but honestly, that was one of the easiest parts of the job. Guess I lucked out. Here's some pics of my home-made tools.
